


I Was Promised a Flying Car

by wakandan_wardog



Series: Tumblr Shenanigans [5]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cars, Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Science, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 11:19:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15242226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wakandan_wardog/pseuds/wakandan_wardog
Summary: Prompt: Would you ever write a fic where Tony and Bucky is bonding over being nerds/loving science? (And doing all kinds of wacky, mythbuster-esque experiments that Tony whips up any time Bucky begins a sentence with "I wonder what would happen if...?")So it's not "science" driven, but science nerd Bucky did spend his last night before deployment at the Stark Expo, staring at a flying car...





	I Was Promised a Flying Car

The fact that he’s once again working on a project for Phil Coulson probably shouldn’t entertain him as much as it does. Granted, it’s one of the three things that he and the Agent can discuss without resulting to threats of bodily harm, so the fact that Tony was his first call is hardly surprising. The fact that Phil dropped her off and dashed off to do Agent-level things was certainly something of a shock, though.

Granted, not enough for Tony to question it. Tony was well aware of gift horses and had no interest in questioning it. He’d settle for Agent owing him a favor, there was no downside to that. With a cheery wave he’d told JARVIS to lock the door, blast his music, and distract the team. That had been a couple of hours ago, long enough for him to pull, strip and rebuild the engine. With that done, he moved on to various tweaks and upgrades, ever mindful of Phil’s rules about his favorite wheels.

Midway through fixing up the boosters nested behind Lola’s front wheels, Tony is drawn out of his working zone. Considering the way his music suddenly tapers off to ‘acceptable to Super Soldier levels’ of loud, the billionaire would guess that the hiss of the garage doors was swallowed by the music. Nevertheless, he clearly has a visitor in spite of his earlier request. Which means either it was an emergency, JARVIS was on the fritz, or the AI has an agenda all his own. Considering the fact that JARVIS is Tony’s son, well, it’s probably the latter.

With a sigh Tony sets aside tools and half-slides out from under the cherry-red vehicle he’s working on, remaining sprawled on the dolly with his hand curled around a chrome-bright bumper. He blinks in surprise at the sight of a Super Soldier stalking his way, and scoots out a little further so he can half-sit up. “What’s up, Terminator? Someone break something?”

James Barnes moves intently through the garage and past the other vehicles without care, sliding to a halt with an eager –nearly manic- look in his storm-gray eyes. “Steve said that the flying car was here!”

“Uhhh.” Tony blinks, his grip tightening around the bumper for a moment before he gives a slow nod. “Yes? Wait, Steve said? How did Steve know?”

“Somethin’ about someone named Phil.” Barnes waves it aside, sliding to a stop and eying the sleek red of Lola’s paint with a low whistle. “This her?”

“Yeah, this is her.”

“Damn.” James grins. “She sure is some kinda dame!”

“She’s a hell of a lady and you better respect her, Soldier Boy.” Tony teases, sitting upright and letting his arms rest on his knees. “What you’re looking at is probably the third time I pulled something off that had eluded my dad.”

Bucky, who had been drifting closer with a hand reached out toward the glossy finish, immediately snatches said hand bag and whips around to face him. “Wait, she’s one of  _yours_?”

Shocked by the increased pitch Tony jumps a bit, rocking the dolly as he jerks and then slowly nods. “Uh, yeah? Do you see any other engineering genius up to his elbows in her? I should think not. Coulson’s a possessive bastard.”

He reaches over and pats at one of her tires fondly, canting his head to one side as he gazes up at the soldier. “So… I heard you were at the Expo when my dad failed to get her older sister off the ground. That true?”

Bucky nods, eying the car again with something approaching greed. “Yeah… Yeah I was there.”

Tony’s smirk turns a little wicked. “You wanna go for a ride, Soldier Boy? It seems like at least one of the Stark boys should get you up in the air.”

“You know what? You’re on.” James grins, reaching a hand down to Tony to haul him up. He stays braced where he is and pulls the billionaire up and into his body, grinning when clever hands clench in the fabric of his shirt. “But after this… I wanna ride Air IronMan, just so I can compare ‘em.”

“You know, some people might call that greedy.” Tony smiles at him. “But sure, why not? Let’s go.”

“After you, gorgeous.”

**Author's Note:**

> I now have an outrageously sad headcanon about Tony getting "Lola" to fly, after his father failed, and it was perhaps the third or so time he'd showed Howard up. Likely he was still only 7 or 8. After the circuit board and the engine and Lola, Howard probably hauled off and broke Tony's arm (teaching his son to never outshine him)... Anyway, Howard sold Lola off so he didn't have to deal with a constant reminder of his son's achievement, and Coulson bought it for fairly obvious reasons. There's only one person allowed to play mechanic on her, but that's another story...


End file.
